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Original Preface (1985) Koko is a ten-year-old, female lowland gorilla. She is the first of her species to have acquired a human language. This is the story of Project Koko, the longest ongoing study of the language abilities of an ape yet undertaken. The project was initiated by Dr. Francine Patterson in 1972 and is still continuing today. The Education of Koko is the cooperative effort of Eugene Linden and Francine (Penny) Patterson. Eugene Linden has written extensively about the various language experiments with the great apes, and it is his feeling that Project Koko has achieved the most extraordinary results of any of the language experiments with animals. As this book will be dealing primarily with Dr. Pattersonšs research and the events that have marked Project Koko, the authors have decided to use her voice to present the details of her work. The interpretation of these details reflects the consensus of both authors. Revised Preface (2002) Koko is now 31 years old, and has developed a vocabulary of over 1000 words of American Sign Language and comprehension of over 2000 words of spoken English. Her first male companion, Michael, a silverback gorilla who passed away in the year 2000 at age 27, also developed an extensive sign language vocabulary. Koko and Michael remain to this day the only two gorillas that have acquired a human language, which allows for inter-species communication. In the year 2002, all of the great ape species are now at the brink of extinction at the hands of humans. We have re-published this book on the Worldwide Web to help raise awareness at this crucial point in time. We must serve as their guardians to ensure their future existence on this planet. We are their only hope. Currently, Koko and her new companion Ndume, are poised to move to The Gorilla Foundationšs new Maui Ape Preserve, which is currently under construction. With your help, Koko, Ndume and others of their species can live and grow their population in a natural protected environment, while we continue to learn from them through inter-species communication. — Editor |
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